PROTOTEIUS STAGERI, GEN ET SP-NOV, A NEW TEIID LIZARD FROM THE UPPER CRETACEOUS MARSHALLTOWN FORMATION OF NEW-JERSEY, WITH A PRELIMINARY PHYLOGENETIC REVISION OF THE TEIIDAE

A new fossil teiid lizard from the Upper Cretaceous Marshalltown Forma tion (Campanian) of Monmouth County, New Jersey is described as Protot eius stageri, gen. et sp. nov. Based on the holotypic dentary and refe rred specimens, the genus is diagnosed by a strongly differentiated he terodont dentition, five premaxillary teeth, paired frontals with well developed crista cranii, and a broad, low sagittal crest on the parie tal. Prototeius appears most closely related to Chamops segnis and Lep tochamops denticulatus from the Late Cretaceous of western North Ameri ca. In a preliminary phylogenetic revision of the Teiidae, Chamops is removed from the Tupinambinae, and Leptochamops and Meniscognathus are removed from the Teiinae. These genera are placed together into a new subfamily, Chamopsiinae, defined as Chamops, Prototeius, Leptochamops , Meniscognathus, their most recent common ancestor and its descendant s. The revised phylogeny does not support the placement of Chamops wit hin the Tupinambinae or Leptochamops and Meniscognathus within the Tei inae. Therefore the origin or presence of the two extant teiid subfami lies cannot be traced to the Late Cretaceous of North America based on known fossil genera.